The United States and Canada will clash for Olympic gold in men’s hockey. Brady Tkachuk isn’t hiding how much this rivalry means to both teams.
“There’s hatred there,” the Ottawa Senators captain told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. “I mean, they’ve been the top dog. They’ve been the best for the last bunch of years, and for us, we want to be in that position, be the best.”
The American forward made it clear what’s at stake in Milan Cortina.
“So it’s going to be a game where I think a lot of guys could say, this is the biggest game that they’ve ever played in.”
Canada holds a 5-1 record against the United States since NHL players started competing in the Olympics in 1998. Two of those Canadian victories came in gold-medal games.
The rivalry continued at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off. Canada won that final in overtime.
“I mean, we were one shot away last year, and sometimes you got to go through that adversity, that sadness, those tough times for the good times to feel even better,” Tkachuk said. “It was definitely a tough couple days, couple weeks, months after that game. And I know I don’t want to feel like that ever again.”
Tkachuk scored in that 4 Nations final. He also participated in one of three opening fights during the round-robin meeting between the countries.
The 25-year-old forward has three goals and two assists in five Olympic games.
Both teams enter the gold-medal game undefeated at the tournament.
The United States women’s team defeated Canada in overtime for gold on Thursday. Now it’s the men’s turn to settle the rivalry on Olympic ice.
